Myrtle is a working class woman, without money, and yet she changes her dresses (and personality) so often it highlights how much she wishes to be something else, condemning staff in the apartment block and acting the part of a far wealthier woman. Reality and Illusion – all our characters appear to be something different from what they are – Tom and Daisy appear to be rich, carefree and happy, but the open-secret of his affair the tension between them indicates that the reality of their marriage is crumbling.He remains fascinated, as well as appalled. Paradox – Nick experiences a paradox at Gatsby’s party – amongst all the wealth, extravagance and showmanship, he finds himself quite disgusted with the other guests, and the way they indulge in this frivolous life – he is revolted, and yet cannot bring himself to leave.Her relationship with Tom also represents a glimpse and taste of a more glamorous world of opportunity, affording her new dresses and apartments in New York – far away from her barren existence with George in the valley of ashes. Yet the dog that Tom buys for Myrtle represents a hope of sorts for her – she cannot have a family with him, but she can have this for companionship. Hope – the first chapters of the novel are tense in places – both Daisy and Tom as well as George and Myrtle exist in unhappy marriages. We also see the corruption of this dream through the declining morality of our characters – they are unfaithful wives and husbands, concerned more with gossip and rumour than anything else, it seems. The valley is barren and simply passed through by the wealthy of New York and Long Island, where Nick, Tom, Daisy and Gatsby live. Corruption of the American dream – we can see this in the symbolism of the valley of ashes – a derelict wasteland representing the poverty of those who have not reached their version of the ‘dream’ yet.
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